Washington Football Defensive Preview

Do the Huskies have the 2nd side of the ball figured out?

UW defense via @uw_football on twitter

The Basics

• The Huskies are led by Co-DC’s William Inge and Chuck Morrell

  • both in their second season at the helm of the Washington defense

  • Inge’s focus is with the linebackers where as Morrell’s focus is with the safeties

• Inge and Morrell help the Huskies run a 4-2-5 defense

• Cal most recently saw this defense vs Auburn (14-10 loss)

  • The Golden Bears saw the Inge/Morrell led defense with Jack Plummer under center last season (28-21 loss)

2022 Defensive in Review

• Gave up 25.8 points per game last season

• 4th in the Pac 12 in scoring defense

• FEI Ratings: 84th on defense

Last year’s Huskies defense was pretty solid along the defensive line. Jeremiah Martin and Bralen Trice (who returns this year) were game wreckers throughout the season. If the Washington defense made a play last year, chances are it was courtesy of them. In addition, there were questions about whether Zion Tupuola-Fetui would rise back to his form from a few season ago and there were some answers in regards to that.

The big struggle last season for Washington was in the secondary. Offenses continually took the top off of them, whether it was a team like Arizona State (45-38 ASU win) or UCLA (40-32) win. A mix of injuries/inconsistency was the genesis for these issues and it was apparent that this group needed a reset coming into 2023.

Depth Chart

The Provisional Starters

Edge Bralen Trice, DL Ulumoo Ale, DL Tuli Letuligasenoa, Edge Zion Tupuola-Fetui

LB Edefuan Ulofoshio, LB Alphonzo Tuputala

HUSKY Mishael Powell, CB Jabbar Muhammad, SS Dominique Hampton, FS Vincent Nunley, CB Elijah Jackson

Players to watch

Bralen Trice is unquestionably the name to watch for Washington on defense this year. Trice hasn’t registered a sack on the young season but that’s more along the lines of him seeing the attention from the offensive line (think of how we view Brett Johnson’s stats vs impact). The secondary terror off the edge is the combination of LB Edefuan Ulufoshio and Edge Zion Tupuola-Fetui, especially when Ulufoshio is coming up in blitz packages. These two have combined for 3 sacks and 4.5 TFL’s, signaling just the sheer amount of activity they have been involved in.

ZTF’s sheer chaos variable is what keeps coaches up at night. After his play vs MSU, he was credited with Pac 12 defensive lineman of the week.

DE Zion Tupuola-Fetui comes off the edge for a sack on QB Noah Kim - it was actually a forced fumble and recovery but the refs didn't review it

As you can see, ZTF can make offensive linemen look flat out silly. His ability to balance his speed and power is a rare combination, it’s just a matter of re-establishing his consistency.

DE Zion Tupuola-Fetui beats LT Christian Hilborn for a sack

Make no mistake, if ZTF doesn’t get the job done, chances are Edefuan Ulofoshio isn’t far behind. Ulofoshio for a lack of a better phrase is a controlled loose cannon, just bolting into the backfield before quarterbacks and running backs can even make moves.

LB Edefuan Ulofoshio bulldozes through the RB for a sack

In the backend, CB Davon Banks was ruled out for the season by UW HC Kalen DeBoer after their game vs Michigan State. FS Kamren Fabiculanan was also dinged up during MSU week but appears that he will be active for this weekend’s game. Vincent Nunley took the bulk of his snaps and there could be a possible timeshare when they play Cal this week. Furthermore, S Asa Turner, arguably the leader in the secondary was also out after getting injured vs Tulsa and is doubtful per DeBoer. A smorgasbord of faces will need to step up for the Huskies secondary (namely Elijah Jackson) but none of it matters if Cal can’t block up front.

How Cal can win this game

With the rash of injuries in the secondary, Cal needs to be more willing to push the ball down the field regardless of results. The Bears haven’t necessarily taken as many chances to take the top off of defenses as I would’ve expected by now, and this is an opportunity to try it. When facing a team ranked as highly as the Huskies, you can’t lay back and let the defense command the game. Washington’s defense is currently only giving up 12 points per game, stifling Boise State, Tulsa, and Michigan State. It’s an improving bunch, but that one that needs to be tested by Cal if they have a chance of winning in Seattle.

Of course the ability to throw it deep requires Cal to block up front and soften up the defense. Cal hasn’t softened up defenses enough to generate the big play but it’s something they will need to do often to keep up with the Washington offense. Jeremiah Hunter, Taj Davis, and Trond Grizzell among others will need to consistently win their battles against the Washington secondary. It can’t and won’t be as simple as establish Jaydn Ott like these first few weeks. It’s a litmus test for both the Cal offense and UW defense this week.